Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3’s Heroes and Heralds DLC mode has two ways you can play it: online and offline. The online mode is a week-long tournament between two factions — the Heroes and Heralds. A winning faction is decided at the end of the tournament. Once you’ve picked your side, you can search for battles with the opposing faction using Quick Match, Create Match or Custom Match.

Offline mode is a little different. In offline mode, there’s a hexagonal grid (above) representing different areas, and your goal is to take over each piece of the grid. You go from area to area, either defending it as a hero or trying to claim it for Galactus as a herald. If you manage to conquer the entire grid, you’re rewarded with an Ability Card. Capcom say the last 10% of the grid is particularly difficult, and that the AI opponents are armed with strong Ability Cards.

Another way to earn Ability Cards while playing in offline mode is via the Hit List. The Hit List (above) gives you a list of characters to take out and shows where they are on the grid. If you manage to take out an entire row of them, you unlock a new area on the grid. Conquering this bonus area will yield even better Ability Cards, but losing even a single match on the area makes it disappear.

Ability Cards won in offline mode can be used in the online mode. Capcom say one of the goals of the offline mode is to allow you to gather and experiment with different Ability Card combinations. The Heroes and Heralds DLC mode will be released on December 19th.